Baveras is the
Santharian Goddess of the Sea and the
Water. She is one of the Twelve Gods or High Spirits (Aeolía) who sprang from
the Dream of Avá the Beautiful according to the
elven myth as related in the
Cárpadosía. Though
Jeyriall, the Goddess of Harvest, and
Seyella, the Goddess of Time and Destiny, are related
to the Element of Water as well, Baveras
is the one who reflects Water most, the
Water representing the uncertainty in the
flow of time, the Water as a blessing,
the Water as a threat. None of the other
two Goddesses is as close to the Element of
Water concerning nature, appearance and whole essence.

The Month of the Passing Clouds (Styrásh: Salarí'Herín,
Salarí'Herín) is dedicated to Baveras solely. Her star constellation is that of
the Wave, her mythical animal is the
Silffin and the plant connected to her the
waterstar. Symbols are the triangle and
the circle, her colours silver and all shades of green and blue.

Image description. Depiction of Baveras, the
Santharian Goddess of the Sea and the Water. Picture drawn by
Sandara.

Names.
The following poem of elven origin, spread
throughout Sarvonia during the Age of
Awakening, is illustrating the nature of the Goddess. From this derive her many
names as stated below:

Wild is the sea, the waves are cold,
death comes to sailors young and old!
Baveras, oh Baveras,
Wild is your soul, cold throbs your heart,
your death reaches all, foolish or smart.

Fish are aplenty, your water tastes sweet,
food is provided, you give us to eat.
Baveras, oh Baveras,
Full are your hands, kind your smile
you care for us all, the good and the vile.

Sparkling uprises a jet of water clear,
joyfully are screaming the children you hear
Baveras, oh Baveras.
Sweet is your laughter and glitt'ring your face,
waves you're whispering, thanks for your grace.

The names we gather from the poem and which are commonly used in
literature about the Goddess and of course mainly in prayer are the following:

-Baveras, the Wild and Untamed One, the Cold One, the Deadly One
- Baveras, the Helping One, the Kind One, the Caring One
- Baveras, the Playful One, the Joyful One, the Lovely One

Appearance.
Baveras - who can find the the fitting words to describe the wild sea, the calm
lagoons, the depth of the waters? There isn't a poet yet capable to describe
the beauty, the strangeness and horrendous, yet the supporting, caring and
loving demeanour of the Sea Goddess, the Goddess of all
Water, be it streaming rivers or calm,
hidden lakes!

Her face of a white, marble colour seems to look very young, more like a
youthful maiden than a grown woman. Her features are even, her nose straight,
the often mysteriously smiling lips finely curved and the eyes large with an
enchanting look. Looking in these eyes, one doesn't see a young girl, but feels
as if one is falling into eternity without return. These eyes, with the colour
changing from the sky blue of a calm sea at midday with sunbeams throwing
slivers of light over the surface, to the deep green of the depths of her
crevasses, to a tumultuous black of a water
world in chaos: One will never forget those eyes.

The hair of the Watery Goddess flows like her creeks abundantly down her
slender, youthful body or is floating upon the
water like her sea-foam, reflecting her
element even more than her eyes. The colour of her dresses is ever-changing,
from the white of water tossed at the cliffs to the emerald green of a lovely
bay, from the deep blue of the high sea, to the characteristic green of a lake
in the high mountains, from the ice blue of young rivers emerging from the
mountains to far to the north, to the terrifying black of the drowning sea at
night.

Baveras is worshipped all over Santharia,
but is perceived differently according to where she is worshipped. The biggest
difference in appearance is between the people living near and of the sea, and
those living inland, be it the human tribes
or the elven ones. The seafaring tribes depict
her as having a fishtail like the mermaids.
The inland tribes see her mostly as the Water Goddess as having legs. The
Baveras of the Sea is most times naked, the Baveras of the Streams and Lakes is
dressed in long floating clothes of her colours, though there exist paintings
as well with her coming out of a well naked. The
human tribes as f.e. the
Stratanians show her as having a fishtail, but otherwise
human features, the
elven seafaring tribe of the
Sanhorrhim have pictures of her
with fishtail, but elven features like pointed
ears. The elves of the forest however describe
her as young elven woman climbing up a tree to
greet the falling water of the rain after a long period of drought.

Personality.
And as her appearance, so is Baveras' nature, as is the nature of the sea and
all water.

The sea gives from its depths plenitude to all beings living in or near her.
There are the human and
elven tribes who live off the sea, which
provides them with all they need. It is shelter and sustenance to all beings
who dwell among her. It offers a path to go, where there are no others ways,
bringing wealth to many, as the rivers and bigger lakes do, allowing to travel
where dense forests and treacherous swamps allow no forthcoming. A blessing for
all beings are the wells and the springs. What makes a flowering meadow or a
calm forest perfect if not a little brook running through and making music, a
pleasure to every heart?

This is Baveras, as we experience her: Looking after those who live in her
element and of her element, giving with full hands to those who are dependent
on her, mourning with those who lost loved ones in her depths, Baveras, the
Helping One, the Kind One, the Caring One.

But this is only one side of Baveras, as it is only one side of the sea. As the
sea itself which may appear to us destructive and murderous, drowning those not
careful enough with their meeting of the vastness of water, so sometimes
Baveras seems cold-hearted to us, without feeling for others, cruel, dangerous,
turning away from those depending on her, Baveras, the Wild and Untamed One,
the Cold One, the Deadly One.

Baveras is indeed a force to be reckoned with, dangerous like a tidal wave
hitting the cliffs, like a heavy storm on the high sea, like a flood drowning
the lands - but as well the font refreshing the thirsty traveller, the stream
carrying the many, the deep sea full of wonders. You may find her in the
untamed waterfalls rushing down steep mountains sides - or in the untouched
mirror of a calm lake's surface. However, there is a third side of Baveras,
sometimes forgotten, but present everywhere. So you find her in the waveletts
running up a beach, playing with the pebbles, in the water of a rivulet jumping
down the hill from stone to stone, in the dew drop reflecting the first light
of the Injèrá in the morning, Baveras
the Playful One , the Joyful One, the Lovely One.

She is a mystery, and no sentient being will ever understand her real nature -
and though, what makes her so mysterious is not that her nature seems to be
difficult to apprehend or even cloaked, no, quite to the contrary: Baveras
seems transparent and clear in every respect to everyone, and it is exactly
this constant representation of the same clarity in all of her so different
appearances why she remains such a mystery.Mythology. Though
not mentioned in theelvenCárpadosía,
the following myth is believed to be closely related to it, revealed to us by
the elven woman
Viresse of the
Ifer'hém
tribe. It was written down and saved for the ensuing ages by Artheos M.Federkiel when Viresse visited New-Santhala last year.

"And
so the Gods started their work: The creation of the
world. Foiros created the sun, and
Urtengor united the earths
to a single world with the help of Eyasha and
Nehtor and then he later on forged the mountains.

Baveras saw the deep pits and the towering hills and loved what she saw. But
something was missing. The world was not complete, not whole. After much
thought, she knew what to do.

A smile so radiant that it competed with the glare of
Foiros‘sun enlightened
her face and she wandered
the world. She filled the pits and craters
Urtengor had formed, the crevices, every crack and
cave with her essence, with a part of herself. The stiff, rocky lands would
have a sense of life now; a steady rhythm and a soft touch to rest the eye from
the tall hills and flat plains when one looked upon it from afar.

But with giving away her essence, Baveras felt less
and less like a living being. Her essence seemed more and more separated from
her and she felt only a shell of her former self. Baverassensed that she could not
leave the world with her essence so strayed; she
could not be the Baveras that the others knew if she left her essence upon the
world.

To stay connected with
Caelereth and her tumultuous essence, she
found the largest chasm that Urtengor had built and
laid her near-lifeless body within it. Each strand of
flowing hair left a creek or a ravine behind, and as she
lowered herself into her resting place she ran her fingers through the soils of
the earth to make rivers to the seas, connecting the large landlocked places
she had tread during her travels back to her lying place. And thus Baveras, the
Goddess of the Sea, Baveras the Goddess of the Water had given herself to the
World and would reside within it.

That was not the only impact Baveras had on the world. She felt that though she
was a Goddess among the creation, her own essence should not be the only thing
within her. She wanted to fill her waters with life like she saw the creation
thriving on the dry land.

So Baveras reached out with waves upon the land and when the creatures of the
land were caught in her tide they became changed when wrapped in her essence.
Snakes became eels, and beasts who saw the power of the Goddess revelled in her
might and truend to water to sustain them.

So is said, that the Sea Horse was created when Baveras saw a landlocked
horse. She pushed a heavy wave ashore,
scooping up a herd of the magnificent beasts, then dragged them back to the
ocean. With her power, she twisted their hind legs to form a fishtail, ran her
webbed fingers through their manes to make it finlike, and breathed sea-water
into their lungs. This gave the half-horses
the ability to breathe underwater. Baveras called them the capricorn and set
them free along the ocean floor, where she could watch them.

The races that lived upon the land and encountered her essence became creatures
of Baveras as well: Men turned to
dolpholk, free to pursue their playful
nature. Those men that were not wrapped in
Baveras' essence but were touched by it only became the
merfolk, half of the land and half of the
sea.

The dwarves became the beasts of the deep;
despite the touch of Baveras they still craved the dark.

The majestic whale and its mournful melody
were once elves; they lament every day of
their existence for they cannot be with the forests and the wind.

The orcs became the vicious monsters of the
deep, beaks and claws, poisons and deterrents of all kinds.

Only the fish were made by
Jeyriall and given as a present to Baveras; a gift
for giving selflessly to the world. They pleased Baveras so much that she
promised Jeyriall to keep the wells within the land
filled with water at all times to serve
Jeyriall's creations.

And so resides Baveras. Not above us. But around us."

Baveras with her unpredictable
nature is not an easy Goddess to have. So her relations to the other Gods has
not always been without conflict.

Jeyriall, related to the water as Baveras, is so
different to her in appearance and character as it can be. And though she seems
to be the wiser one and appearing older, Jeyriall
nevertheless is bound to Baveras as being dependent of water for the well being
of her creatures and the growing of the crops that sometimes causes major
differences concerning the flooding of land and destroying crops and other
disturbing events. Jeyriall hates the wild and
murderous side of Baveras.

Not so Seyella, the third Water Goddess. Her relation
to Baveras is a better one. She sees the common things between them, the
passing of time in the streaming of a river to the sea, the timeless moments of
waves hitting the beach again and again and the ones drowned are guided by her
with special care. Seyella sees in Baveras' untamed
side an instrument to fulfill destiny. And Baveras, admiring the wise Goddess,
chooses sometimes her colour grey to please her abandoning her greens and
blues.

Apart from her kin deities, Baveras has three special relations to other Gods,
that is Queprur, Foiros and
Grothar.

Baveras admires Queprur's cold, distant beauty, but
she gets angry when she is sometimes mistaken by drowning sailors for the
Goddess of Death. While Baveras' relation to Grothar
is always described as very good and they are indeed depicted as loving pair
sometimes, Foiros is the god she dislikes most, not
wanting to see the blessings he brings, but only his negative side of burning
the land. Many lore arose from this conflict.

Lore.
There are several legends told by different tribes connecting Baveras with
special places:

Gean Firefeet, the
Santharian historian collected the one
which describes the Scattersands
Shoals as a bathing place for Baveras. The
Shendar refer to the islands as
Baveras’ Garden, the place where the Goddess enjoys her time alone with
animals. She is, as the legend tells us, often accompanied by
Silffin, a mighty white sword whale. In the
shallow waters, circulated by the isles and protected from any storm or wave,
she plays with her pets and baths.

Other Shendar lore about places tell
us how Baveras made the Seven Jewels in the
Ráhaz-Dáth or how Baveras fought Foiros and made
the Nirmenith Waterfalls and the Oka‘Seri Swamp. Below is the myth on how
Baveras brought water to the
Ráhaz-Dáth:

How Baveras Brought Water to the Desert.In the days when the gods were
young and the lands not yet finished, Baveras looked at her seas and the
fish, dolphins and other animals within. She smiled when seeing the
Sarvonian wells sputtering, the Nybelmarian rivers rushing to the sea and
the big lakes of Aeruillin glimmering in the light of Injèrá. She was very
pleased with what she saw, till her gaze fell on a piece of land at the
very south of the Sarvonian continent.

And we all know, what she saw, and what made her heart bleed.

Baveras was stunned, she didn't believe her eyes. There, south of a huge
forest and a vast plain, was an endless sea of sands. No animal roamed the
land, not a single plant could be spotted, there was no drop of water. It
was all so dry that life was not possible.

The vast lands of sand, the endless dunes, the winds forming golden
landscapes had their own beauty, but it was a dead beauty, without the
blessings of life. And Baveras loved the life as she does it today. So she
went to Jeyriall and asked her if she could not help these sad lands, and
fill them with life, but Jeyriall only shook her head and said that
without water nothing would grow, and that it was her, Baveras's task to
bring water to the desert. But she saw no way how she could achieve this,
so she went to Grothar and asked him to send his rain clouds to the hot
lands and with them the needed water. And Grothar, though doubting that he
could help effectively, sent his winds to blow the clouds from the sea
over the sands. But Injèrá, Foiros's work, was mercilessly burning the
land. And so the clouds simply vanished when reaching the coast, so great
was the heat towering over the south. Baveras pleaded with Foiros to send
Injèrá farther away, but her request was not heard. The southern lands
stayed beautiful, but dry and dead. This was the first time that Baveras
felt a cold distance to Foiros.

Baveras was distressed, and she didn't want to give up. After some time
she made a decision. She didn't like much what she was planning to do, but
she had done it once when the world was in the making, and she would
repeat it.

So, she, the one who loved to dive with the dolphins, to dance in the
waves rolling onto a beach, to rush down a mountain's side with a rivulet
and to take pleasure in tossing down in a waterfall, she reminded herself,
that she was the goddess of the wells, the hidden lakes, the underground
rivers as well.

Grothar, the god of cloud, rain and wind helped her to fulfill her desire.
He brought heavy rainfalls to the forest we know now as the Sharadon and
the plain north of the dry desert, the Narfost Plains, and Baveras made
rivers which crossed the plain. Their waters fell over the edge of the
cliff and brought life to the desert, but only to a small part in the
north. For the rivers couldn't cross the huge sand dunes. The two in the
west just turned away from the hot lands and their water was lost in the
vast ocean we now know as the Aetryam Sea. The river in the east just
vanished into the sands, as it does today. And therefore it was called
Délran'már, the Vanishing Waters. But Baveras wasn't angry about that, as
we could suspect, with her rivers turned away from the desert, but exulted
secretly, because the Délran'már should be her gate to the desert.

She dived deep into the waters of the river, and with them into the depth
of the earth, and filled there all the crevices, every crack and all caves
as she had done it when the world was in the making. New passages were
opened for the water to progress under the surface. And where the waters
of the Délran'mar were running still strong, a lake deep in the ground
formed.

And it went well.

Finally she touched the salty waters of the ocean in the south and she
knew she had won. She pressed up through the masses of sand and rocks and
nothing could withstand her will. It didn't take long, and in many places
in the vast desert lands the water came to the surface, forming wells and
springs and even small ponds, allowing plants to settle down and with the
plants came the animals. Even where the water didn't get to the surface,
it was not far away. Most wells and water holes were fairly small and
though some lovely ponds came into being, they could not be seen well from
above. But at one place Baveras created the loveliest image one can
imagine, the Seven Jewels.

Many tales are about Baveras' relation to other gods, especially to
Grothar, the God of the Weather. So one
elven legend tells us how
Grothar and Baveras came to love each other, another
how Baveras climbed a tree and called Grothar to
bring rain. A third which is widespread under
humans as well reports how Grothar asked
Jeyriall for a flower for Baveras and the
waterstar came into existence.

Worth mentioning is as well the legend published by Artheos M. Federkiel: How
Baveras asked the other Gods for Guidance of the Stars.Importance.
Baveras as the Goddess of the Water in general is one of the most worshipped
gods throughout Santharia. So many people
are depending on the sea or the rivers, on the
water in general like the desert tribes,
that she is the one worshipped by nearly everyone in southern Sarvonia. Death
may seem far and if peace reigns the lands, men tend to forget that it is a
valuable good for which one should pray every day, but the water, especially
the sea, is a force which people encounter daily. And because the rituals are
easy and the lower ones are allowed to be performed by everyone, they are in
use daily and frequently.

However, Baveras' degree of respect varies greatly from tribe to tribe and is
mostly depending on the occupation of the people.

The merchants of all big seaports like Strata,
Varcopas, Milkengrad or
Carmalad try to abate her dark side, fear
her, see in her mostly the one who endangers their endeavours. Especially in
Thalambath, the temple is not done in
her usual light colours, but the black stone from the Norong‘Sorno is used to a
great extent. And it is not only the fact, that the stone can be found locally
here, that such a temple was built. In some respects Baveras resembles here
Queprur, as she is said to be responsible for the
deaths and losses on sea. Baveras' Wills (their representative) have there a
hard life and are worshipped with love only by the some of the poorer women.

The fishing tribes however see this side as well and fear it, but they prefer
to worship the giving, helping Baveras. If one of them drowns, it means grief
for the relatives of course, but they prefer to see it as inevitably, as
Baveras taking the dead in her loving arms.

River people are similar to the fishing tribes, but the aspect of Baveras as
the Water Goddess is stronger than by the seafaring tribes.

Desert tribes adore her as the Bringer of Life, opposite to
Foiros, whom they worship, but fear. Here Baveras is
the Water Goddess, the Goddess who enables life in a hostile landscape. There
her dark side is rarely seen. Even when a well doesn‘t give
water anymore in dry times, this is not
seen as her fault. In this case it is just Foiros who
is stronger than her. So worshippers ask Baveras to fight for her right to
provide the desert with water. One of the
most important tasks a priestess of Baveras has to be able to fulfill is the
finding of water.

Inland tribes see only the Goddess who gives life through the
water, worshipping concentrated on the
fonts, wells; especially on the plain land and by the farmers who mostly
appreciate the water more than the people
living in towns. Sometimes Baveras is seen along with
Jeyriall as protecting the unborn child- which is kept safe by the
surrounding water in the mothers womb.

A special kind of worship however has developed in the towns and places, where
the people have lost the direct contact to growth and death like the people
have who live from and on the land. Though the playful aspect of Baveras can be
found in rural places as well, as we see from the numerous toy water wheels in
gardens, which are a pleasure for kids and adults alike, the most impressive
and sophisticated trick fountains are found in bigger towns like
New-Santhala,
Marcogg,
Voldar, Milkengrad,
Nyermersys. Even
Strata, where
water is scarce and expensive, trick
fountains can be found in the smaller of her temples at the central
marketplace. So Baveras' importance lies here in enabling pleasure and
recreation for all people.

Symbols. Baveras'
colours are ranging from all kinds of green to blue with even a hint of purple,
more important is the quality of the colour, which is always pure and more
translucent than opaque, again reflecting the essence
of the Element of Water.
Those artists who manage to give the tiles or wall paintings the impression of
depth and transparency are most praised, like the
contemporary Halfnin Grould who is famous for his diaphanous paintings of
the high sea representing Baveras in the town temple of
Strata. And opposite to
Foiros, the God most controversial to
the Goddess of the Sea, silver is part of all the
ornaments in a temple. Very often pearl father is used for the ornaments. In
this she is very close to Grothar, and his colours
grey, white and silver are going well with her green-blues and
are often used as well.

One of the mystical beasts that serve Baveras in order to rule the waters and
oceans of Caelereth is the
Silffin. It is often presented as a huge white
sword whale with silver scales and an iron horn. In many illustrations Baveras
is riding him like a horse or he is pulling a wagon of silver and nacre often
escorted by dolphins or other creatures of the sea.

The constellation of Baveras, the
Wave, consists of a group of six stars,
forming the sign of an irregular triangle with the tip lying a bit far off. It
represents movement, the impetus which is contained in the nature of
Water. The
Wave stands for the tides, the unceasing fight between two opposing forces - of
light and darkness, good and evil, of life and death.

Derived from the Wave, the triangle is associated with Baveras
andthus can be found
in the floor tiling of temples or as a sign of apprenticeship at the temple of
Baveras' Will. The number three and its higher multiples are therefore
also often used
in ornamentation and rituals.

Besides the triangle the circle is the other shape which is found in Baveras
symbolism.

There is one plant which is closely related to Baveras and maybe seen as her
most important symbol, which is the
waterstar. Though triangle and wave are of
greater cosmological importance and the Silffin the most impressive symbol, the
waterstar is present everywhere and reminds the people
day in day out not to forget
Baveras.

Festivals.
Most Baverian festivals and feasts are held in the Month of the Passing Clouds (Styrásh
Salarí'herín,
Salarí'herín). They are generally filled
with various rituals of giving symbolically back what Baveras donated a year
long. Around those rituals eating and drinking, dancing and singing are common.
The people enjoy one day or longer a free careless time.

Most times each profession or tribe celebrates its own festival, or signs at
least responsible for it. But others members of the village or community are
invited and welcome. So it is possible to attend several feasts for Baveras
during the Month of the Passing Clouds.

A few exceptions are found, where fishermen and farmer celebrate together or
where the festivals are held at another time of the year. In northern
Santharia feasts are more commonly
celebrated in spring, but in southern
Santharia this happens only very rarely. We find both exceptions in the Bay
of Smoke, where the "Blessing of the Sea" is celebrated on Midyears Day by the
whole community.

Because of its importance we especially have to mention the sea festival the
Sanhorrhim elves celebrate every
century. During three days, called Baveras Gifts, Baveras Arrival and Baveras
Blessing the elves gather at the coast praising
Baveras. More details are found in the Santhalian Library in the scrolls about
the Sanhorrhim elves.

Rituals.
Baveras may be the Goddess with the most rituals performed and prayers spoken
throughout the day and the year. She is part of every day's life of most people
living in Santharia. Some of these rituals
are known throughout Santharia and
practised from Strata up to the
Tandala Highlands. These are
mainly the daily rituals or those covering childhood or maturity. Others are
only know in specific places or regions like the one performed by the northern
elves when the ice on the rivers is breaking
up. Or they vary with the occupation like the rituals of the seafaring merchants
differ from those of the coastal fishermen.

Rituals performed throughout
Santharia
a) Daily Rituals
The life of a girl f.e. living in a family believing in Baveras (though not
necessarily exclusively) would look like this:

When getting up she will go to a water
bowl and wash her face, praying to Baveras for the first time this day, asking
for beauty and health (the order depending how old she is and what expectations
and wishes she still has).

Sitting down for breakfast, a family member will speak the prayer for the meal,
thanking Baveras for the given water and
Jeyriall for the bread. This prayer might be repeated
at every other meal.

She may pass a water toy while going to
the market and set it in motion - a prayer to Baveras, even if she doesn‘t think
at Baveras in this moment.

Going to sleep, she will wash her face and hands and whatever she thinks she
needs to and speaks a prayer meanwhile.

b) Occasional Rituals

These rituals may occur weekly or in bigger intervals, depending on how
often the work has to be done or on other circumstances.

Weekly washing day: Mostly common in rural regions, the women meet on a given
day in the week to do their laundry together. There regularly songs are sung to
praise Baveras, though some are more ballads which tell stories about her and
Grothar or her fight with Foiros.

Even more filled with laughter than the laundry days are the communal bathing
days (where practised that is - they are more common in towns than in the
villages, often replacing the laundry day). The songs praising Baveras are
merry, and not always liked by men.

Rituals concerning Maturity and ChildbirthAs soon as a woman knows she is pregnant, she will go to a Baveras Aid
and ask her to bless her and the beginning life of the soon-to-be-born child.
This ritual is held privately, only the woman , maybe a sister or her mother,
sometimes her husband as well, are attending the ceremony, but it works like a
kind of announcement for the community the family lives in.

If a Baveras Aid is her midwife, the new-born child will be washed immediately
in a bowl filled with warm water, which is
flavoured with the flowers of the waterstar.
The mother will be washed by the Aid with the same
water. This is seen as a ritual, where the
Goddess is asked to watch over both, but especially over the baby, a life long.
While the women go into a temple of Jeyriall to give
birth, the ceremony of bathing the child can take place at a later time, the
mother only washes her face and hands - but people who are used to it feel
unwell as long as the ritual isn‘t held, mother and child are watched carefully
in this time.

As soon as a girl had her first moon cycle, her mother will prepare a small
feast, only the closest family members are invited, her best friend maybe, and
the Baveras' Will. The meal will be prepared out of good and well loved
ingredients. The last but most important part will be a light bread out of the
finest sieved flour of the golden rain,
topped by the paste out of waterberries.
This jar of waterberry paste is a gift
Baveras' Will brings the young girl to celebrate her entrance into adolescence.

After this ceremony is held, the girl may join any other bigger rituals or
festivity held from the whole community with the purpose to include the now
grown up children to a bigger extent in the world of the adults.

Religious Rituals and Feast Days throughout the Year
All around Southern Sarvonia and on some
other places where Baveras is worshipped festivals and rituals are held in the
month of the Passing Clouds (Styrásh
Salarí'herín,
Salarí'herín). On which day they are
held varies from place to place.

The fishers at the coasts as well those on the rivers throw all their
fish caught in the morning back into the
water, accompanied by a lot of singing and
praying. On this day, the meals contain mostly vegetables, no
fish, maybe it is the only occasion for many
fisher families to have meat. Many are fond of the
waterstar wine and that makes the feast
to a very merry one.

The farmers and the people living in rural regions wander out to the wells and
Baveras Temples to celebrate. Baveras' Wills are blessing the wells and rivers,
the fountains in the temples. This is one of the rare occasions they act in
public. The temples are restored and polished for this special days and are
never so frequently visited like in this time. The town people are going to the
water plays, enjoying a free day with the
family.

The farmers and town folks are not restricted in what they eat, and
fish is in contrary to the fisher tribes a
well loved meal - here as well accompanied with lots of
waterstar wine and Baveras Love.

Where the weather is warm enough, bathing is one of the preferred activities and
there are surely some people whose bodies never see this much
water the whole year long as on this day.

Some of the most enjoyable rituals are those connected with
water plays. Nearly every bigger town away
from the coast has at least a small one. The most famous of all these playing
with water is in the tri-level temple in
Bardavos, it shall serve here as an example
for smaller ones elsewhere. It is situated in the middle of the
Sharadon, near the foot of the
Sharadon cascades. There you find a
complicated system of water pipes,
waterwheels and other devices set
into motion by water running through.
These fonts are not always activated except in the time where plenty of
water is available. As soon as the
water is scarce, worshippers are able to
pay a bard or two for the waterwheel
playground to run. Then water will be sent
through the play and this is seen as worshipping Baveras and attracting her by
this means. Necessary part of this ritual is that Baveras is praised with a
song, and this is the task of the children. Standing preferable around a small
fountain with effervescing water, they hold each other's hands, singing the
first lines and surrounding the well, first in the one direction, then in the
other, again and again. Finally they lose the patience and one starts singing
the last line.

With the last line all are running towards the fountain hitting their hands on
the water surface, loud shouting: Baveras!

Where the merchants and the fishermen have a prayer as song, the children of the
town people sing and dance. Who knows, which one pleases Baveras most?

Temple Design.
Coming to one of the temples of Baveras delights every heart, be it the splendid
one in Strata or one of the tiny floating
reed places on a calm lake in a forgotten forest. The temples' beauty, their
symmetry, their whole architecture is a pleasure to see. There are many
different types of temples, however, depending mostly on their location.

Most Baverian temples are constructed round, either perfectly round or fitting
in a circle. Those not exactly circular have three, six or twelve corners,
following her symbols, the circle and the triangle. All have slender pillars,
occasionally topped by a capital resembling two waves curling outward, and
standing on a matching foot, in this respect very similar to some of
Grothar's temples.

The roofs are sometimes half spheres, but if it is a cornered temple, it has as
many sides as the temple itself has. The most famous example here is the temple
in Varcopas with its twelve grey pillars of broken stone from the Nirmenith
Mountains and its steep pointed roof with twelve sides, covered with the silvery
grey slate found near Varcopas. The floor of every stone built temple - and if
there are any walls - are tiled. Beautiful and artistic inlays or other
ornaments are showing the water life,
animal and plants, and Baveras herself, accompanied by the
Silffin or
merfolk. Where it is available like near
Strata, corals are part of the inlays, while Varcopas is famous for its
ornaments mainly out of the pearlfather found in the
oysters and
trysters in the Gulf of Maraya. Perlfather
is used in nearly every inlay - who could resist this glimmering and the light
reflecting material? It is sometimes described as "water
frozen to stone".

Situated very often outside the towns and abandoned to the sometimes rough
weather, no other decoration is found as numerous in these temples as these
mosaics. They are at most times the only adornment a temple has.

If there is no proper floor like in some temples build at or in rivers, the roof
carries the load of all artistic desire to praise the Goddess. The best example
of this is the temple in Marcogg. It is
unique, as it is the only temple known which shows a major masterwork of the
nearby living Thergerim.

As for colors: Baveras‘ colours - blue, green and silver - are dominating in
every temple, though others are found as well.

The slender pillars found in Baveran temples are of a light coloured, often
white stone, depending on the region. Sometimes however they are tiled with a
great number of very small pieces, showing a waterplant growing up to the roof
or little fish dancing round the pillar
rising endlessly like in the three level building in
Bardavos. Especially the inland temples
with the water plays tend to be more
ornamented and in need for care than the others.

The most magnificent temples to Baveras are found at the coastline. Here the
floor is at a height that it is daily flooded when the tide is high.

Many temples are situated in rivers and aren't capable of such a display. They
therefore have a lowered floor, lying beneath the water level and closed
openings in the wall. At special occasions or festivals, these gates are opened
and the water is allowed to flood the
floor. In other temples they have a partial floor to allow the contact with the
water in the temple, be it only to see the
water or for bathing rituals. An extreme is the temple in
Marcogg with no floor at all.

Temples on lakes don‘t have streaming water,
so they take a different approach to create "moving
water". Here trick fountains of every
variety are found, little rivulets running from one basin to the next, little
waterfalls representing the playful and joyful side of the Water Goddess.

In some places, where no suitable island is found, like in river deltas or on
flat coastlines, the temple is sometimes situated on wooden logs or on circular
boats, anchored near the coast. But these temples are constructed differently,
their building materials is wood and other materials. Instead of flooding them,
they have a circular opening in the floor which serves the same ritual purposes
as the flooding. They are often used by not so civilised tribes.

Somebody who looks for the more severe side of the Water Goddess has to visit
the only kind of temple of Baveras that has only a small, symbolic amount of
water running around the building. These
are the well sanctuaries, which are build around some of the major known wells,
but above many smaller as well. Every spring, every place where
water is emerging from the
earth is holy to Baveras. These places
have a special meaning to everyone. The water
of the well is guided into a basin and from there to an opening in the wall and
around the whole building till it is allowed to flow away freely.

Baveras' Retreat. There are some constructions
however, which are very different to previously noted Baveras temples, but maybe
as important as all her big buildings and present everywhere, especially where
no temples are found. They are called Baveras' Retreat . They are built of a
circular raft floating on the water, to
the rim fastened branches of the willow, bound together at the top, big enough
to allow a human to lie inside outstretched.
These branches will eventually grow roots and develop leaves. Everybody, one who
is simply looking for a rest or hunted by his persecutors, may enter one of
these and have sanctuary by Baveras. Nobody is allowed to do any harm to
somebody who is inside. Violation will cause death through drowning, may it be
sooner or later, so is said.

All temples are cared for by the community they belong to. However if there is a
Baveras Will living in this village, she is responsible to a certain extent. She
will go to the major of the village or town and ask for tending and caring the
temple. She tells the helping people, what has to be done. Every spring and
autumn a small temple cleaning ceremony is held, and all those who have helped
are blessed. During the year most temples don‘t need any attention. If there was
however a big storm and lots of debris was left, f.e. in the temple of
Strata, there will be always some worshippers
who are glad that they are able to serve their Goddess by cleaning the temple
floor.

Temple Locations.
Baveras temples can be found in any place with
water, and all temples are surrounded by
water. Temples therefore can be found in the sea - near the coast like the
one in Strata being the most southern
building on the Sarvonian continent; in or
even above rivers like the famous temple over the waterfall in
Marcogg or in the middle of the Sharadon
river in Bardavos. Even on an island in the
middle of a lake; like the small, but beautiful temple built on a tiny island in
Ephirn's Lake just opposite to
Holmstedt fortress.

The Baverian temples are built on a rock or small island just outside the main
coast line, on a small island in the middle of a river or bigger lake -
preferably the whole island is covered by the temple - or floating on a river or
lake like a boat or built on a wooden construction. In every case a bridge or a
boat is needed to reach it. The river around the temple should never fall dry,
this would be seen as a bad omen for the future. Only exceptions are the temples
on rocky islands near a coast where the tide may withdraw the
water. But in those cases, the temple
can‘t be reached at all, not by boat and most times the ground is too
treacherous to make it to the island by foot. The floor of the temples are
always at or near the water level and are sometimes flooded.

Every place where water emerges from the
earth is holy to Baveras. Every well is a
place to worship her, but very often there is a building covering and protecting
the well.

The little flooding boats called Baveras' Retreat can be found on the lakes, be
they big as the Ancythrian Sea, or as small as any tiny forest lake, along the
seacoast or near the river benches, tied to any suitable anchor.

There are other holy places apart from the wells where Baveras is worshipped
without any building: Waterfalls like the
Ravenwing Falls or especially the
Cloud Falls. People gather at a place
near the water, possibly where the they
are covered in the mist coming from the falling water and hold whatever ceremony
is common within their tribe.

Priests. The water has no
defined form, it takes it of the
form it is held in, it is not tangible, it escapes the hands - thus is
Baveras, changing, flowing, mysterious - and no one can tie her up in any
respect. Therefore Baveras doesn‘t have a cleric like other gods have,
but numerous priests, well
known, proud and distant. No priests care for her temples, no priestesses are
always there to help and advise the seeking. Baveras, though present in every
water drop, is not always easy to find. This would be against her wild, untamed
nature, unwilling to allow any restriction or boundary.

There are of course individual persons, who act as ambassadors, as deputants of
the Goddess, women mostly, who live either within the
community, without any wish to be separated from the others through their
service for Baveras, or wander around from place to place to help those who are
in need for Baveras' aid.

Though most times well integrated in the society of the village or town, those
serving Baveras are nevertheless special persons, recognised as
"wise women" from the
community, though they might still be quite young. Their official name is
"Baveras' Aid"
or "Baveras' Will";
but they are addressed however as "Mother"
as sign of respect. The younger, still learning women kept by the Mothers are
called "Sisters". On their
forehead or the left temple they have a small tattoo, the complexity is
depending on their grade of apprenticeship. The very beginners have just a
simple triangle, the ones who have
learned nearly all they have
to know a circle within this triangle.When a Sister leaves her
teaching Mother she gets the final tattoo, a stylised
picture of the waterstar placed in the
circle.

Tasks and abilities of Baveran priests are numerous:

HealingThe most obvious is that of a healer. Baveras'
Will is competent in all methods which use
water as a remedy, if cold or hot or frozen, she knows how to use the
waterstar which is dedicated to Baveras
and good for many aches due to her purifying and draining abilities.

MidwifeAdditionallya Baveras' Will is a
midwife. Unborn babies are swimming in a protecting hull of water. Therefore
people believe that Baveras holds her hands over the unborn and her Will gives
the babies over out of the hands of Baveras in those of the mother. Especially
where temples of Jeyriall are far away, the villagers
tend to rely more on a Baveras'
Will, living among them, than on Jeyriall priests.

Detect Water SourcesAnother important
task and ability of Baveras'
Will is that of finding water whereever
needed. This is lifesaving in arid regions and for the nomads, especially the
Shendar, but elsewhere needed as
well. Young apprentices use for this purpose a specially formed branch of a
willow, older Wills don‘t need this help anymore, but are able to feel it just
with their bodies. Not only the locations of the
water can be determined,
but the depth of the spring as well as how much
water it carries. What is not known
widely, is that Baveras'Will is able to detect with this ability caves, their
location in the ground and its size as well.

Find
Holy Places
Another task related with this ability is to
find "Holy Places", places
where temples are build or other important buildings, places where
Gods are worshipped best.
These places seem to have more cár'áll than others and Wills are
able to detect them. They have a natural feeling where
magic accumulates and where
it is none. They however can‘t use this energy
in anyway nor manipulate it.

Clairvoyancy
The last ability is not very well known and Wills only learn of them late in
teaching. Normal people know it only as rumour and Wills will always try to keep
it secret.

Baveras'helpers
are able to see into the time - if future or past, or see another place with the
help of a mirror of water. That maybe the
pure water in a bowl or the calm surface
of a lake or spring. Even the soft ripples on the
surface can cause an unwanted look behind the curtain of time and place. Younger
woman who are about to learn this art, need the help of the specially prepared
plant, but older ones do it just by setting themselves into a kind of trance.
Baveras' Will however will use this mighty knowledge
only in moments of great need.

Baveras' Wills are
chosen ones. One day a wandering Baveras' Will will
come to a village and tell the parents that her daughter - very rarely their son
- is "chosen" to become one
of her apprentices. This is most times no surprise to the young woman or girl -
they may be as young as 15 summers - for dreams of
water or a special affection for
water may have signalised the closeness to
Baveras already. Having to follow the
"Mother" is nevertheless
hard for the girls and not everyone will obey her destination. A
Mother may have up to three apprentices at a time, of
different state of knowledge though. After several years of wandering, the
mother feels that the time has come to settle down and
live for the rest of her life in a village. Her
apprentice girls will stay with her, till they have finished her education and
then become wanderers for themselves, looking for
other girls to teach and follow them. Not all of them will be Baveras'
Will their whole life long, some prefer a husband and
family life, for it is forbidden for a Baveras' Woman
to bind herself to a man. That doesn‘t mean that she has to be celibate, and
some have even a child, though this is very uncommon.

A young girl might have the wish to become a woman of Baveras and go to the
local Mother and ask her, but unless the Mother
confirms her wish, it is not possible.